The Drop Bag: Party for Jenny, crusty 50 and Badger jams

The "Drop Bag" is a collection of news and events from the Off the Couch sporting world.

The name refers to the drop bags that competitors use to get their post-race necessities from the start line to the finish line of point-to-point races.

Jenny's big night: The doors to the Whiskey Bar won't open for another couple hours, but the party for local runner Jenny Crain has already started. An online auction to benefit the elite athlete has generated nearly $6,000 to help cover medical expenses during her ongoing recovery. That's just another reason to celebrate tonight at the club on N. Jackson St.

Crusty 50: It takes a special runner to slog 31 miles in the snow and in the cold and then declare, "this was fun." A good number of them will be in the Southern Kettle Moraine State Forest on Saturday for the 22nd annual John Dick Memorial Crusty 50K.

As race founder Tom Bunk described: "It's not a cut-throat race; you see your friends, you run with your friends and afterward have some food and enjoy the day. It's probably no different than guys who get together to play golf on Saturday."

Rail Jam in Wausau: The word is out that the MTV Made crew will be in Wausau on Saturday night filming the Rail Jam portion of the Badger State Games. This should give snowboarders their moment in the spotlight, long after the cross-country skiers have curled into submission.

The nordic types ought to have good conditions on the snow in the Nine Mile State Forest, although the latest reports suggest the striders might have some difficult wax decisions.

Kick off those shoes: Barefoot Ted and his acolytes have enjoyed an extended run through the extended debate over the benefits of treading sans footwear. This piece from NPR promotes the theory that barefoot running encourages a more efficient stride.

Electric rides: This story on the electric bike boom spurred a healthy round of discussion among the two-wheeled commuters on the Madison bikies e-mail exchange. In truth, that's not hard to do, but the sales numbers are worth some note.

More than 120 million electric bikes are now on the road in China, and the industry reported $11 billion in business.

I found the last graph of the New York Times story to be the most provocative: "To the core cyclist, it’s cheating,” said Loren Mooney, editor in chief of Bicycling Magazine. “Marketers understand this, and it’s why some have put e-bikes in mass retailers like Best Buy, rather than engaging in the uphill battle of trying to sell them in bike shops.”